German East Africa campaign

The German East Africa campaign occurred from 3 August 1914 to 25 November 1918 amid the African campaigns of World War I. While the other German colonies in Africa fell relatively quickly, German East Africa held out until the end of the war due to the German general Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck's brilliant guerrilla campaign against the Entente forces.

History
A German light cruiser, the SMS Koenigsberg, operated off the coast of German East Africa since the start of World War I. Seeing this as a threat, Britain decided to mount an invasion of German East Africa by troops from British India. On 2 November, an 8,000-strong Anglo-Indian expeditionary force landed near the East African port of Tanga. The defense of the German colony was in the hands of Lieutenant Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, with around 1,000 Schutztruppe (colonial soldiers) under his command. The Indian expeditionary force was low on morale and short of training and leadership. Its slow approach gave Lettow-Vorbeck sufficient warning to move his troops to Tanga by train. A confused battle ensued on 4 November, and the shaken Anglo-Indian troops fled back to their ships, leaving most of their equipment behind.

Lettow-Vorbeck pursued a prolonged defensive campaign designed to absorb maximum British resources. While the British were organizing their response to this humiliation on land, the Koenigsberg was pursued by Royal Navy warships to the mangrove swamps of the Rufiji Delta. Although it could not escape the Royal Navy's blockade, the Koenigsberg held out until July 1915. Even after the cruiser was bombarded by British river monitors (flat-bottomed gunboats) and had to be abandoned, its sailors continued to fight, joining Lettow-Vorbeck's army and bringing their ship's heavy naval guns with them.

Following the fall of German South West Africa to the South Africans in July 1915, South African forces were then transferred to East Africa, where they spearheaded the campaign to hunt down Lettow-Vorbeck, who was still at large. The South African mounted columns proved far less effective in East Africa, however. The tsetse fly took an enormous toll on their horses, while malaria debilitated the troops. Allied campaigns against German colonial forces continued up to the end of the war, with the last German troops surrendering on 25 November, fourteen days following the general ceasefire of 11 November.